the south pole...south pole. they had arrived on 14th december, 1911, and planted the norwegian...
TRANSCRIPT
The South Pole
It has two ends – the North Pole and the South Pole.
Planet Earth is a sphere, which means it is shaped like a round ball.
The South Pole
Do you know which continent the South Pole is in?
The South Pole is in Antarctica.
North America
South America
Europe
Africa Australasia
Asia
Antarctica
Antarctica is the coldest, driest and windiest continent on Earth.
Although it is covered in ice and snow, it is dry because it hardly ever rains.
It is very difficult for plants and animals to survive here.
Antarctica
Antarctica
For thousands and thousands of years, no humans had ever been to Antarctica.
They weren’t even sure it existed!
In the 18th and 19th centuries, many brave explorers tried to find it.
Eventually, humans found Antarctica!
Once it was discovered, the next challenge was to reach the South Pole.
Scott
Terra Nova Expedition
In 1910, Robert Scott set off on an expedition to reach the South Pole.
On the way to Antarctica, the ship encountered several problems.
1. Another explorer, Amundsen, had sent Scott a telegram. In it, he explained that he was also going to the South Pole!
2. The ship was struck by a storm. The crew had to use buckets to stop water from flooding in and sinking the ship.
3. The ship then ran into ice that it couldn’t sail through. They were delayed by 20 days.
Terra Nova Expedition
In 1911, the Terra Nova team set up a hut on Antarctica in a place that they named Cape Evans.
It was while doing scientific research that the team found out that the rival explorer, Amundsen, was camped on Antarctica too!
Amundsen
Terra Nova Expedition
There was now a clear race to reach the South Pole.
Scott wrote in his diary that he was going to carry on as usual, ignoring Amundsen and his team.
Terra Nova Expedition
In September, Scott set out to reach the South Pole.
He initially set out with a group of 12 men.
Along the way, some of the crew returned to base.
Eventually, it was a final team of five that completed the whole mission:
Scott, Wilson, Oates, Bowers and Evans
Terra Nova Expedition
The Terra Nova team travelled over the ice and snow on foot, on skis, on motor sledges and on sledges pulled by both dogs and horses.
In 1912, the team finally achieved their incredible goal!
The team of five men reached the South Pole and planted their British flag.
There was just one problem…
Terra Nova Expedition
The Amundsen Expedition had already reached the South Pole!
Roald Amundsen, Helmer Hanseen, Sverre Hassel and Oscar Wisting were the first people to ever reach the South Pole.
They had arrived on 14th December, 1911, and planted the Norwegian flag.
They had discovered a new route to the South Pole that took them only 57 days.
Amundsen Expedition
Scott’s Disappointment
It was over a month later, on 17 January, 1912, that Scott and his team reached the South Pole and discovered that the Norwegians had beaten them to it.
They were extremely disappointed.
After planting their flag, Scott’s team headed for home.
Scott’s Terra Nova expedition ended in tragedy. No one survived the return journey.
Later that year, a search party set out to find Scott and the Terra Nova team. They put up a cross that now acts as a memorial to these brave explorers.
A Dangerous Mission
Exploring Today
How do you think expeditions in Antarctica might be different today?
What do we have in the world today that might help modern explorers?
Scott and Amundsen both reached the South Pole more than 100 years ago.